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Thursday, July 29, 2010

New Car

Our son, "Evil Genius" just became a car owner for the first time. His name is on the lease. He has his own auto insurance. Life is good (and has good mileage too)!

Insurance

I just don't get it.

Our son went off our auto insurance so I was able to move our daughter from the van to the compact car and our insurance rates are going up $300 every 6 months?

With one less person being insured?

How can this be??????

Stop the world.

I want to get off.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Home Improvement/Garage Trim

After years of watching the trim around our garage doors rot, we hired someone to replace the rotten old wood with....plastic! Ta-Da!

I love the low maintenance spirit of the PVC (polyvinyl chloride) product! And was thinking about suggesting replacing much of the inside of our home with it until I Googled it and saw that there are those who don't recommend it being used in classrooms because of toxicity issues. So I'll stick with the garage trim only.

Isn't it pretty?

Monday, July 26, 2010

Apartment Hunting

Our son needs to find a place to live in Virginia.

On Saturday, Wonderful Husband, our son and I left for Virginia at 6:00 a.m. We had a list of apartment options and arrived at the first apartment complex at 11:00 a.m.

The highest temperature reading while we toured the total of five apartment complexes was 109 degrees. It was stinkin' hot! 

He liked the first apartment complex he looked at, yet kept an open mind during the next four. He decided he had seen enough and we headed back to the "cooler state" of Pennsylvania arriving at 8:30 p.m.

Showers for everyone!

Today he filled out application pages, faxed them to the leasing office, sent off the required money orders and is waiting to hear if he has a home in Virginia.

Please wish him luck! He should hear Friday...or Saturday...or surely by Monday!

Update: He has an apartment in VA! Yea! A place to live!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Partial Definition of Me

I learned an interesting lesson about myself while I was in Virginia with our son. An observation that surprised me and disappointed me too.

After placing my order at Starbucks for a
Venti,
Iced,
Skinny,
Vanilla latte,
Triple shot,
6 pump
beverage,
the barista said, "Don't forget your receipt. And by the way, did you know that if you come back after 2:00 today...."

Then I interrupted him.

I said, "That's ok. I'm heading to Pennsylvania in a little while so I won't be in the area after 2:00."
He said, "Oh, that's ok because the offer is good at any participating Starbucks."
"Oh...thank you for telling me then."

I picked up my drink and then went to settle into a soft leathery-type chair where I thought about what had just happened. I've always prided myself on having good manners and using common sense especially with servers (after all they prepare my drinks/food).

But instead of letting the barista just finish saying another sentence, or two tops....I was rude and cut him off.

I didn't even have the (bad) excuse of being in a hurry. I knew I was going to be sitting there for at least and hour waiting for our son to finish his interview and come and pick me up.

There wasn't a big line behind me. No people waiting impatiently while the barista was sticking to his closing script.

It was just me.
Being rude.
Now ashamed.

I can't take back that moment, yet will try to live more gently and courteously in the moments to come.

Have you had a similar experience lately?

After posting this, I read Karen Ehman's post called "Dead-heading". She's one of my favorite Proverbs 31 Ministries women whose blog I read all the time. I think it's time to "dead-head" my rudeness, then let God's Word bring gentleness and  good manners "to bloom."

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Road Trip Part 2

If you want to start at the beginning, here is Part 1.

After leaving the hotel Thursday morning, our son dropped me off at The Daily Grind and then he proceeded on to his interview.

Can I tell you that I love The Daily Grind? Friendly baristas. Friendly owner. Friendly customers. Get the picture? It was amazing!

A customer would walk in, the barista would call out, "Good morning!" The customer would say, "Good morning," to him/her and then while walking past me, would also say "Good morning!" It is a happy place.

One hour and 50 minutes later, our son came back and said that the interview went well and he had a tour of the school. We sat for a while longer and then proceeded to the next area where he had an interview scheduled for Friday morning.

After checking in to the next hotel, he got a call with a job offer! He accepted! Hooray!

Our son is an Employed Middle School Math Teacher!!



Now I could go on about the coffee shop I went to Friday morning while our son kept his next interview appointment. (A big brand name place which the only advice I would give them is to have an exterminator come to spray AFTER YOU'RE CLOSED TO CUSTOMERS!) Eeeeeeeewwwwww!

But that's enough said about it.

Our son came back and said the interview went well, we put gas in the van, and high-tailed it back to PA.

In conclusion, the road trip was exhausting. Our son will be moving to VA and teaching in the fall. And we're sooooo proud of him!

A successful road trip!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Road Trip Part 1

On Wednesday, "Evil Genius" and I traveled to Virginia. He had interviews scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

Wonderful husband made the hotel reservations and had also figured out coffee shops where I would sit and wait while our son interviewed. We had Emily (my GPS) all programmed with addresses and oh yes, I took my camera too.

About 4.5 hours of driving. Maryland "welcomed us" twice. (Emily led us into the edge of Washington, DC hence Maryland being doubly happy to "greet" us!) We checked into the hotel, test drove to the coffee shop (I mean the school where the interview would take place the next day) and then thought we'd locate a grocery store where we could pick up a few items.

We drove and drove and drove some more. Windy, country, bucolic roads...no grocery store, strip mall, or retail establishments were ever found. I wondered if they grew all there own food and didn't need the "sissy grocery stores." I also knew that with my rad driving skills that I was probably a block away from major retail opportunities at all times but never knew it.

We plugged Emily in and she led us back to our hotel where there were grocery stores located nearby. Now I can verify that there are people who shop at grocery stores in Virginia, just so you know. And we're not sissies!

Later we had dinner at a TGI Friday's restaurant and when we left, I grabbed my camera and took the following picture from the parking lot.



Could this be a good sign of the interviews to come?

Stay tuned for Road Trip Part 2!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Lifestyle Change Part 2

Today is my second 10 week completion of my lifestyle change (weight loss).

The update for weeks 7-10 is the scale that looked like a yo-yo during these weeks.

Week 7 - lost 0
Week 8 - gained 1 lb.
Week 9 - lost 1.5 lbs.
Week 10 - lost 1 lb.

So during this 10 week "adventure" my total weight loss is........ 6.5 lbs.

I began this adventure back on February 26 with a total loss of 10 lbs. in 10 weeks. I've been continuing my plan of eat less, move more. I've increased my water intake, am watching my portion size, and still walking on the treadmill at a 1.5% incline, 3 mph, 25 minutes for 5-6 days per week.

So doing the math (our son would be so proud) I have lost the total of  16.5 lbs. in 20 weeks. That's 9.22% in 20 weeks. Booyah!

I have marked off 10 more weeks which will take me to September 15. Wish me luck (and some will power!). I think my update posts will be on Week 5 and Week 10.

Thanks for your encouragement and support as the journey continues! I've linked this post to Kathy at House of Hills. Please stop by and see how the other ladies are doing and cheer them on.

Monday, July 5, 2010

July 4 2010

We went to my sister-in-law's house for a 4th of July Pig Roast. 125 pound pig. Hours and hours to cook. About 75 family and friends with lots of side dishes and desserts. The weather cooperated in the high 80s, sunny and a light breeze.


I was hopeful that our backyard neighbors would be providing us with a free fireworks show like they do every year....except this year they must have been out of town. They must have heard that I have a new camera. Darn!

Hope you had a great 4th of July!